Spread the love

I brought a mate of mine to the game on Friday night for his first taste of Bees action for a few years, and it would be fair to say that although he was blown away by how much Brentford had progress since his last visit during Uwe’s first season at Griffin Park, it was one player that truly caught his eye.

Although he was happy to wax lyrical about the flowing football and our Fulham annihilating flair, I simply couldn’t shut him up about our ‘new £3m acquisition from Paris St Germain’, Toumani Diagouraga.

“Who is that tall midfielder with the gangly legs?” he asked me the first time he snubbed out a Fulham attack before threading a deliciously-weighted ball through the Andre Gray… “Erm…”, I was thinking on my feet… “We call him Dave… Warbs picked him up from PSG’s youth side for £2m rising to £3m after 50 games…” I said… “Do you rate him?”

Ten minutes later my mate was at it again… “Seriously, this Dave fella looks world class…”

“Yeah…” I said… “He’s got the same agent as Yaya Toure… Manchester City are already sniffing around apparently…”

And so it continued all the way through the first half… Toums reading the game magnificently… Demonstrating a first touch to die for; strutting with confidence and a certain swagger; always picking the right pass, whether simple or threaded; always available, and always there with his spider-like legs to put in a tackle… Central to everything.

I have a confession, I made all that up about taking a mate to the game… And the conversation is pure fiction… But what is 100% fact is that IF we had bought Dave for a club record transfer fee last summer from the French Champions, on recent form, he’d be worth every penny…

And when Mark Warburton recently spoke of the need for Toums to play for a new contract, I’m sure the Bees’ boss meant at Brentford rather than at Barcelona…

But, if the last five matches are anything to go by, a move to Catalonia doesn’t seem that far fetched at all. Even by my standards!

Dave Lane